EMPTYING THE NOGGIN—Jazz struggle in Dallas

Something has felt off all week with this team. Not sure if it is playing better teams. Maybe it’s waiting to get to the break. Maybe it’s a worn-out team from the increased individual roles. Not sure what it is, but this team is a little off and with the thin margin of error they have when they are a little off, it is evident.

There are not a lot of wins left on the schedule, but you would hope the Jazz are able to contest games better than they did tonight.

Dallas was the No. 1 offensive team in the NBA over the last 20 games and they looked like it again tonight. They play very well together. Ellis plays in the open court and Dirk plays in the half court and Marion is as good a mover without the ball as the game has.

At shootaround today, the Jazz showed the team a video of where they could get their shots, and they showed that Marvin would get the angle left three. Marvin was ready and on fire in the first half. He scored 21 points, the highest in one half in his career. After the game, Dirk was asked what the Mavericks did to slow down Marvin and he said: “they switched me off of him and that was a good move.”

We have become very three-centric. In fact, 25 of the first 50 shots the Jazz took were 3-pointers. They were hitting at 40% at that point so it is hard to argue, but the Jazz have got to find a way to still attack the rim and play in the restricted area. The Jazz had just 18 points in the paint (on 9-for-22 shooting). This is the paint, not the restricted area, but 22 shots in the paint and 35 shots from three (for the game) seems a little out of whack.

The thing about the 3-pointers is that I’m not sure what other shots we have as options. Burke is not getting to the rim. Alec is the one player who goes to the rim (and Derrick off the pick and roll). However, posting up Enes and Derrick is not a fruitful offense. The Jazz have moved away from the flex offense in order to avoid the mid-range jumper, but getting the restricted-area shots is not in the DNA of most of our players. So when you eliminate the mid-range shot and can’t get to the rim, then this team is going to be 3-pointer dependent.

Gordon Hayward was not engaged in the game tonight. Not sure what is going on.

Trey Burke finished 5-for-15, which matches the 33% shooting over the last 10 games. He took nine threes and did not take a free throw. Every shot but one he took tonight was outside 17 feet. It has been quite a while since he has finished in the restricted area.